It’s one of the most coveted seats in the world. And it’s free. It’s a spot along the most famous red carpet of the year: the Academy Awards red carpet.

Around 700 lucky fans will be selected in a global online lottery to sit in the bleacher seats flanking the red carpet at the 85th Academy Awards on Feb. 24.

Those interested can apply online at Oscars.org/insider. The deadline to enter is Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. Entries must be submitted online and no duplicate registrations will be accepted. Of course, “Selection does not include admittance to the 85th Academy Awards presentation,” as the official rules remind.

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The lottery is offered by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which puts on the Oscars.

Those selected will be notified on or around Nov. 20, according to the Academy. In previous years, as many as 20,000 fans have entered the lottery.

However, the lottery is for seats ONLY; no airfare or hotel accommodations are provided. A background check is also required if selected.

Fans at 2012’s “Oscar Fan Experience” received goodie bags with candy, popcorn, soda, sunscreen and face wipes, along with other gifts. They arrived early for a full behind-the-scenes day in seats viewable on TVs around the world. Once the red carpet was empty, bleacher fans were invited to an Oscars viewing party at the El Capitan Theatre across the street.

In the past, the Academy kept registration for the contest open only for one week. This year, the nonprofit organization is extending that period to almost two months.

This columnist was lucky enough to be selected as a bleacher fan in 2008 at the 80th Academy Awards. It is quite the experience, a 12-hour-plus day chock full of the biggest names on the biggest night in Hollywood. The energy is palpable. Fans yell and scream for nominees and movie stars to look their way and wave. Being a fly on the wall there was unforgettable.

Toledo Free Press Starhas interviewed a few of the lucky fans during the past two years.

One of the fans interviewed in February was Erin Rea, from Daly City, Calif., who brought her daughter’s bear, Emma, to the bleachers with her. Rea said she was looking forward to seeing George Clooney on the red carpet. Later that day, Clooney would meet her and take a picture with the stuffed animal.

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Fan Robert Mills, of Cardiff, Wales, was one of the lucky fans sitting along the Red Carpet at the 83rd Academy Awards in 2011 (pictured above).

The studio manager of Bluegg, a British design studio in Wales, said it was a “once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

“I’m a massive film fan and have been watching the Oscars on the TV for years,” Mills said. “I thought I’d try my luck but never for a second thought I’d get seats, especially as it was my first year of trying.”

For some lucky fans, the first time entering may be the charm. Good luck.

Toledo Free Press Lead Designer and Film Editor James A. Molnar blogs about all things Oscar at TheGoldKnight.com. Watch him discuss movies on “WNWO Today” around 5:50 a.m. on Fridays. Also, listen to James discuss movies on “Eye on Your Weekend” on 1370 WSPD every Friday at 6 p.m.

Strickland asking why lottery audit delayed

Gov. Ted Strickland is asking the state auditor to explain why a performance audit of the Ohio Lottery won’t be completed in the coming weeks as initially expected.

Auditor Mary Taylor, the running mate of the Republican who seeks to unseat Strickland in November, began the review in January, with the lottery calling the undertaking unreasonable and unnecessary.

The release of the audit is not being delayed, said Taylor spokesman Chris Abbruzzese.

“Work has not stopped,” he said. “It’s not unusual for timelines to be revised.”

But Strickland spokeswoman Amanda Wurst said it appeared work was finished last month and the process stalled for reasons that haven’t been publicly announced.

She said the audit has been unusual from the start.

“This is the first time that a performance audit has been forced on an agency,” Wurst said.

The review is separate from annual checks of financial statements. Taylor had said she wanted to make certain the lottery is operating efficiently, amid what she described as “heightened risk” for the agency. She pointed to the uncertain nature of gambling revenue, along with the voter-approved constitutional amendment allowing casinos in Ohio’s largest cities.

Taylor’s office will present a draft to lottery officials when the audit is finished and allow them to respond, with their feedback to be included in the final report, Abbruzzese said.

He said office policy says no audits can be released within two weeks of an election.

Taylor in January dropped her re-election bid and became the running mate of John Kasich, a former Congressman who faces Strickland in this fall’s election.

Lottery Executive Director Kathleen Burke had questioned whether the audit was a wise use of taxpayer funds. The lottery will bear the cost, which was estimated $118,000.

A June 18 letter Burke sent to Taylor says that the lottery was told in December that the report should be finished by early July and that the timeframe was changed to August without explanation.

“In summary, I find this delay to be puzzling, irregular, and without reasonable explanation and request that you reinstate the previously provided schedule,” Burke wrote.

The last performance audit of the Ohio Lottery was in 2000, according to the auditor’s office.

Lottery spokeswoman Jeannie Roberts said auditor and lottery officials met June 1, but that she could not reveal what was discussed.

“They gave us a timeline, and we were expecting them to follow it,” Roberts said. “We would like to move along with the process.”

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